The manufacture of boats from aluminum is old in the boat building business. Aluminum is found to be a useful resource for water vehicles because it is light-weight, strong, and weatherable. Neither salt nor fresh bodies of water have much impact on the durability of aluminum, thereby making aluminum a preferred material over iron-based materials, such as steel, the added weight of steel notwithstanding. Aluminum is preferred over wood-based materials since rotting is not an issue; and due to the strength of aluminum, the hulls can be made thinner, thereby making the vessel lighter than a wooden structure. Aluminum is preferred over fiberglass in instances where the boat will see rugged service such as in fishing boats. However, the dominate material for recreational boats is fiberglass due to the ability to create highly stylized designs at low cost. Fiberglass boats incorporate hull and deck designs with a high degree of contours which present aluminum boat technology could not affordably replicate. Fiberglass has a disadvantage due to the caustic nature of the chemicals used to make the material and the resulting pollution from the waste chemicals.
Aluminum alloys tend to have limited ductility therefore making formability difficult, thereby making aluminum a less desirable building material when forming is a priority. When forming aluminum alloys, micro and macro cracks can be made which inhere to the boat hull. This can result in weaknesses within the hull that can ultimately result in leakage and water intrusion to the interior of the boat, which is, quite obviously, an undesirable characteristic for a boat hull.
The present invention provides the opportunity to significantly expand on boat hull designs made from aluminum for small to medium sized water vessels. The invention, which is comprised of a plurality of technologies, enables the creation of contours and styling in an aluminum recreational boat at a cost never before available. This low cost highly stylized aluminum boat will offer a consumer a rugged, highly stylized boat which is much lighter than fiberglass boats. The light weight provides considerable savings on propulsion systems when compared to boats constructed of fiberglass. The weight advantage of the present invention eases the trailering requirement often associated with recreational water craft.
A preferred manufacture are pleasure boats within the 15 to 40 foot length from bow to stem, but most preferred is the manufacture of pleasure craft in the 17 to 26 foot length. Pleasure craft can, of course, take many forms, e.g. speed boats, row boats, crew boats, canoes, kayaks, simple motor boats and fishing boats, as well as more exotic jet skis, di- and tri-hulled schooners or catamarans, and platforms.